Swedish make throws European sensibility into a segment heating up
The rigid truck market is facing a tilt from an unexpected quarter next year, with Scania Australia to enter the fray armed with safety equipment and a 7-litre Euro 6 engine.
The Swedish firm acknowledges this with be the smallest truck engine Scania has offered in decades, in terms of both displacement and external dimensions.
It insists the engines are ideal for urban and regional distribution applications but underlines that comfort and safety is the key to its push into a market that it believes is in need of upgrading.
Thus the DC07 range includes steering wheel and side curtain rollover airbag protection, a quiet engine, modern suspension delivering and “segment-leading” ergonomics and instrumentation, including in-dash weight scales readouts for each axle set.
The formerly quiet medium-duty segment is already the scene of a market-share battle that Hino is taking up to Isuzu but with the latter refusing to relinquish is long-held crown.
Read about Hino’s medium-duty run at Isuzu, here
“With our new engine family, we are widening the appeal of Scania’s product range to customers who have traditionally purchased lighter-duty trucks,” Scania Australia director of truck sales Dean Dal Santo says.
“A key advantage is the 360 kg reduction in weight – compared with the Scania 5-cylinder 9.0-litre engine – and a significant reduction in fuel consumption.
“This combination will meet the growing requirement for sustainable transport by urban and regional operators in Australia.
“But the new format doesn’t mean we have made any concessions when it comes to typical Scania characteristics such as performance, robustness and uptime.
“These trucks offer all of Scania’s heavy-duty engineering, driveline efficiencies and safety benefits, optimised for lighter-duty roles, which are sure to draw new customers to the Scania family.”
“And with the Scania-owned network of sales and service branches across Australia, customers will feel confident they are buying from the original equipment manufacturer, with technicians trained by in-house experts.
“Scania’s 7.0-litre range also comes with our 5-year/500,000 km maintenance offer included with the purchase, a valuable and appealing operating costs bonus for operators large and small.
Scania’s Driver Services, fleet monitoring and aftersales contract maintenance are all offered with the 7.0-litre range, as well as Scania Finance Australia’s purchasing and insurance services.
SPECS
Engine: 6.7-litre six cylinder
Power: 280hp(206 kW)
Torque: 1,200 Nm (885 lb-ft)
Transmission: Opticruise economy, standard and power settings
Emission control: Scania SCR, DPF
Rear axle ratio: 3.08:1
Brakes: ABS/EBS7 disc brakes with Advanced Emergency Braking
Suspension: Air front and rear
Fuel tanks: 320 litres.